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Do you have any idea when they stopped this? I booked the J2 all inclusive package in March if I remember correctly, think it was through the travel agent I booked the cruise through. This is for a Med cruise on the Serena departing 14 Oct (Next month, !!!) Can't wait. Sorry forgot to mention it was booked through UK travel agent.

Do you have any idea when they stopped this? I booked the J2 all inclusive package in March if I remember correctly, think it was through the travel agent I booked the cruise through. This is for a Med cruise on the Serena departing 14 Oct (Next month, !!!) Can't wait. Sorry forgot to mention it was booked through UK travel agent.

I would not worry about the original message, I think it is a fake.

OP joined CC today.
Sends first and only message with not much information, in fact very little to go on.
I don't think we'll see another message from theat quarter.

If you are concerned give your TA / Costa a ring to find out what exactly is the position.

Ron, thanks for that bit of info, do you get a lot of suspicious posts on these forums? I have it in correspondence from TA that J2 is booked, also shows up in My Costa under my order so I know all is ok. Was wondering if they had decided to stop this scheme. Really looking forward to our first cruise on a magnificent looking ship.

Im NOT a fake or suspicious in any way
I joined to advise people of what I knew so thanks for the lovely welcome! made me feel a bit rubbish to be honest so thanks for that.
I was advised by thomas cook after they called costa while I was present that the all incusive drinks packages (other than the ones you can book to have with meals) are now discontinued
I was disappointed and wanted to advise others of what I knew
Im sure if u already have something booked you will be fine and its maybe just for new booings.
thanks for the vote of confidence GMT!

Im NOT a fake or suspicious in any way
I joined to advise people of what I knew so thanks for the lovely welcome! made me feel a bit rubbish to be honest so thanks for that.
I was advised by thomas cook after they called costa while I was present that the all incusive drinks packages (other than the ones you can book to have with meals) are now discontinued
I was disappointed and wanted to advise others of what I knew
Im sure if u already have something booked you will be fine and its maybe just for new booings.
thanks for the vote of confidence GMT!

We have seen it all too often, a new member posts a very general message with no meat on it and then disappears.

In your very first message you make a global statement about Costa drinks packages, without mentioning, cruise, date, country.

It is always best to supply as much information as you have so that other passengers / countrymen can relate to it.

You made the statement that Costa had done away with the all inclusive drinks package, but their is a dedicated Costa web site to book such packages in Germany and it is still up and running.

Ok Mae1978, please accept my apologies if it was a genuine post, but Ron is right in what he says. I understand it is all too easy to get different info from different sources/TAs etc but sometimes it pays to check around before making statements or ask the question on forums such as this as 99% of the time someone will have encountered the same thing.

Hi
I didnt make a 'general' statement about all drinks packages
I clearly stated the the package with dinner is still avail but that the all inclusive all day one was now not available
I hoped this wasnt true as this is what I wanted to order
Im glad if others are able to order it but I was advised by costa that I could not.
Sorry if I didnt incorporate enough info for everyones liking but I didnt realise there was a minimum amount of words I was meant to use
I just wanted to help others with the info I had but seems this was not a good idea and Ive been made to feel horrid
Enjoy your cruises everyone - I need a holiday after the beating Ive had on here!

Hi
I didnt make a 'general' statement about all drinks packages
I clearly stated the the package with dinner is still avail but that the all inclusive all day one was now not available
I hoped this wasnt true as this is what I wanted to order
Im glad if others are able to order it but I was advised by costa that I could not.
Sorry if I didnt incorporate enough info for everyones liking but I didnt realise there was a minimum amount of words I was meant to use
I just wanted to help others with the info I had but seems this was not a good idea and Ive been made to feel horrid
Enjoy your cruises everyone - I need a holiday after the beating Ive had on here!

In your original message you did make a global statment about all inclusive drinks packages:

"Hi
Just to advise you all the Costa now dont do the all inclusive drinks package
they have now stopped this
they still do the package for when you have drinks with meals but not the at any time one
x"

Such information can cause panic among some cruisers who have alreday booked an all inclusive drinks package and make them worry instead of looking forward to their cruise.

The only additional information you have supplied is "Thomas Cook", which wouldn't mean anything to some members.

Hi Mae1978
Please don't feel "got at". There are varying drink packagages, J2, X1, Boys and Girls - wine packages and one or two others. So there's a bit of confusion to start with as you didn't name any particular package. If you look through the threads you will find Ron is a mine of information and often posts the drinks packages for all to see. Also if the drink packages had "gone" he would have been the first to tell us. I assume as you are using Thomas Cook - you are from the UK and you say the TA there was on the phone to Costa while you were there and was informed that the drinks packages are no longer. I have also stood in a Travel shop whilst the TA made a call to Costa and told me there were no drink packages. That was over two years ago - I joined these boards - and sure enough - lots of info about drink packages - so if one half of the world is going on the same cruise as I am - and they have drink packages - why can't I? So I rang Costa direct - and asked them the question - sure enough they told me they couldn't do the drink package for me - but to INSIST the TA book it. I was advised by Costa that TA's didn't like to push them - as there was nothing in it for them - and it was extra work. Now that is what I was told - I know this posting is long winded - but with due respect - the "experts" are on the boards - not in travel shops. You nearly started world ward 3 by not being specific -keep pushing your TA - let us know how you go

We are booked on the Favolosa in March and I sent and enquiry to Costa and they sent me this information. Interestingly they told me to book it with the agent and the agent told me to book it with Costa! I will sort this out in due course . However here are the packages.

NB : The X1 / X1CHILD beverage packages are NOT available on Romantica from 20/11/2010 to 24/04/2011 (positioning to Mauritius, Mauritius cruises, repositioning to Singapore).

LUNCH AND DINNER BEVERAGE PACKAGE BY THE GLASS:

Beverage package can be ordered and paid only before the cruise and only to Individual Guests.

The X1 must be booked by all adult guests occupying the same cabin. Children must prepay the X1CHILD.
X1 code will be printed on the Passenger's Costa Badge.
It includes white and red Wines or draft beer, soft drinks, mineral water, all served by the glass in the Dining Room or Self-Service Restaurant during lunch and dinner only. For children from 4 to 17 years old it includes only soft drinks and mineral water.

Some of you were awful tough on the OP. They replied the very next day. Not a sin to be new. And being new to CC means some posts might be short of information. Simple questions after the first post would have cleared up and informed everyone reading. Just sayin...

1. the old X1 package.Now called something else. Selected drinks with meals. For 18nights, I was quoted £196.44pp - 10.91 pp per day

2. Ultra all inclusive - the old J2. All drinks up to 6.99euro in value anytime.
18 nights £608.58pp - £33.81pp per day

3. All inclusive. A selected list of drinks available all day. Was e-mailed a list. Essentially house wine, soft drinks, non premium spirits. NO speciality coffees, NO cocktails (NO a lot of other things) - £308.02pp - £17.11pp per day.

Mentioned the ruse suggested on here for X1 package where can get a drink anytime buffet is open if grab a small plate of food - replied curtly that "waiters are wise to it, and would deal with it" - welcome to Costa.

More annoyingly, she could not explain why the J2 package is bookable on the German website at 20euro pp per day - thats HALF THE PRICE we have to pay. I asked if I could book it via that website - but apparently it will reject my booking number if not a german citizen. What next - separate prices at the bars depending on nationalities. I can understand differing prices for the cruise, but how can the drinks on board cost different amounts, depending on where you live???

Anyway,

worth working out how much you will realistically spend. The all inclusive is the best value "no hassle" option - not much more than X1. BUT........
can get classic 6 wine/7 mineral water for 103euro +15%, and 20 beers for 72euro +15% etc. Bear in mind, too, that there is a 2 for 1 cocktail of the day every day (NOT included on all incl), they frequently do cheap champagne deals (and the house Jacquard is very good, and not expensive normally at about 25euro a bottle). A bottle of prosecco is about as cheap as any wine on the list too. I worked out we can have a bottle of wine every night, 3 beers each a day, and a bottle of mineral water, and it is still cheaper than the drinks package. remember, too, that coffee (in a vat), and nice tea selection, is available all day in buffet. There is also afternoon tea every day. Not an easy call........